Friday, 7 December 2012

Let's see if I can remember how to do this. HEYSUP hope everyone's been well in the 15 million years since I last 'blogged' on this 'blog'. I can assure you I have no good reason for my absence (21st century life, billz, global warming etc) but I've got a buttload of great music that's been piling up in the to-post list and it's probably time to get rid of some.

Just to cover things in the news department first: I have a slick new mixer arriving very soon, apparently, which is going to be pretty spesh. Am planning to give it a major workout with a small Disco Delicious party in Sydney (unusual venue suggestions welcome) some time around Jan/Feb, spinning many hours of pork-schnitzelling, rainbow-gurgling, boob-honking disco goodness. Will also be partying with Psychemagik on The Island on Jan 5th, then playing Sydney Fest at Town Hall with Danny Wang and Darshan Jesrani ***BONER ALERT*** which will be pretty exceptional. Then we've got DSR007 by hubbabubbaklubb coming out in the very near future, that'll be a total lady slayer. So yeah, the summer is looking good. Unless you're in the northern hemisphere, then the summer is looking distant.

MUSIC. We all listen to it, whether it's when you see an ad on tv, when you're on hold to the phone company, or even when you take a ride on a classy elevator. I really like those musics you hear when you trip down some stairs in an alley and you end up in a nightclub and it's all 'doof doof doof doof' and the people spasm in perfect time with the 'beat'. Like this marvellous Kerri Chandler remix of Makam's You Might Lose It. It starts off all thumpy and bare and you're all like "hey what's going on here mate" and then the synths begin to blossom and the spring sun pokes out and everybody in Detroit is dancing and smiling. Snappy claps and precise percussion build into a glorious groove that I could see working a Saturday night dancefloor as easy as a Sunday afternoon rooftop crowd.

I heard Harvey play this on a radio show with Dennis Kane ages ago and kind of forgot about it until he gave it a spin on his latest BIS appearance. I could die of shame three times over for letting it slip my mind for all that time. An easy contender for the most beautiful disco track of all time, Gloria Ann Taylor's hugely sought after 1973 gift to the world, Love Is A Hurting Thing. Little description is needed - from the very first moment when the slightly tacky guitar shredding emerges from the pool of reverb and the kick starts to pump, it's a hugely emotional journey through the euphoric highs and excruciating lows of love, articulated by Gloria Ann's belting vocals which are so powerful and passionate it just about snaps your shins. I can just picture this being played as the last song at Horse Meat Disco and the world's biggest club tragedy unfolding as thousands of disco-loving men drown in a tsunami of tears. It comes at a price though - you'd be lucky to pick up a copy of the 12" for less than $500. Enjoy it here in as-good-as-you'll-ever-get 320.

Discovered this great Franc Spangler release from earlier days of the Delusions of Grandeur catalogue thanks to a killer DJ Nature mix. This track is the gift that keeps on giving - I really love every element of the track and the gradual layering which builds it up to vibe city. First the stabby little keys, then the thick plonking bassline, then the aggressively grooving hats, and finally the obligatory deep house chords which take things to a whole other harmonic plane. The snowballing energy makes this tune a super handy one to have in the bag, it can really get the juices flowing. Now will someone please tell me who Franc Spangler is? Why hasn't anybody found this out yet?

I'll leave you with this captivating Magic Mountain High track which was released on Workshop back in March. It's not really the kind of thing I'd generally listen to, but since the first time I heard it I was fascinated by the erratic jabbing synths and the all-out wackiness of the song. It somehow sounds (to me) both organic and totally alien and artificial. Something about it makes perfect sense. I heard Floating Points spin the other more minimal, muted version of this track, the B2, when he played in Sydney a couple of weeks ago (omg jizzzzz) which was a nice shock, since I expected I would never hear it out in my lifetime, and would certainly never have the cojones to play it myself. Might give it a shot though.